MARILYN MANSON

The women who refused to let the Marilyn Manson story die

It took years for mainstream media to catch on to the Manson story. But three young women wouldn’t let it go – even if they had to endure threats and ridicule to get it out there

WORDS: BRIONY EDWARDS

The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson.He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander, or blackmail.”

When Evan Rachel Wood named Marilyn Manson as her abuser in February, it seemed to catch parts of the media world off guard. Former friends and colleagues rushed to distance themselves from him, as those who had been lined up to work with him scattered. Manson had been set to star in TV shows Creepshow and American Gods, but as the allegations broke, his appearances were swiftly axed. His manager jumped ship and his record label dropped him. From the outside, it was chaos.

But sitting watching it all unfold was a community of women for whom it came as no surprise at all. They’d been trying to tell people about it for years.

Alex* was born in Belfast in the early 90s. A so-called ‘ceasefire baby’, she grew up at a time when The Troubles were beginning to shift from all-out war towards a cautious peace. Any sense of division had melted away by the time Alex and her generation were teenagers and Belfast’s alternative scene was thriving, buoyed by a newfound sense of freedom and scepticism for the establishment – particularly organised religion and the damage it could cause. As far as countercultural icons went, for these kids, Manson was everything.

Alex appreciated Manson more for what he represented than for his music, and was drawn to his ethos that “outsiders are the accepting people; everybody else is the enemy”. But she was also a fan of Wood. She knew that the pair had dated and recognised Wood in Manson’s music videos at the time. So when Wood began to share details of an abusive relationship years later, Alex was listening.

In 2016, Wood gave an interview to Rolling Stone magazine where she spoke about her experiences as a survivor of domestic abuse. In 2018, she testified in front of the California State Senate on behalf on the Phoenix Act –a bill Wood designed, which extended the statute of limitations on domestic violence felonies from three to five years. In 2019, she started the #IAmNotOk hashtag, posting photos of herself from a 2010 photoshoot for Elle magazine, shared with the caption: “The day of this photoshoot, I was so weakened by an abusive relationship. I was emaciated, severely depressed, and could barely stand. I fell into a pool of tears and was sent home for the day. #IAmNotOk”.

Wood stopped short of naming Manson in these posts, but, already familiar with the timeline of their relationship, it felt clear to Alex that there was only one person she could be talking about.

Marilyn Manson, who has denied the claims made against him

GETTY

Alex wasn’t alone. Youtuber Ellie Jayden was a “casual fan” of Manson growing up and, like Alex, was inspired by the freedom of expression he represented. But she too had become a fan of Wood, following her career from films like Thirteen through to cult TV shows like True Blood. Although she’d also been aware of the pair dating, it was the Youtube algorithm that eventually put the pieces together for her. The recording of Wood’s Phoenix Act testimony was suggested to Ellie as a recommended video shortly after it was released in 2018. From there she was linked to another video of Game Of Thrones actor Esmé Bianco, who co-created the Phoenix Act with Wood, testifying at the same hearing.